crystalhallfandomcom-20200216-history
Small Mercies
Small Mercies is Anomaly's origin story by Joe Gunnarson. It was released on 20 February 2017. It runs from 2006-12-27 to 2007-02-03. Summary Matthew "Matt" Carter, Diamondback's twin brother, manifests as a mutant, with the aid of Terra-Kashaly, and run away from his, now her, parents. On 2006-12-27, Matt wakes up alone at home. After doing some searching for his missing twin on the dark corners of the Web, without success, he turns on the TV and watches a TV show portraying the recent events on Darwin, Australia -- never realizing that two of the protagonists are his former brother and his old friend Crazy Joe. He then grabs his backpack and a pendant he received from a Sidhe woman named Kalrys at the Winter Solstice celebration. He recalls the meeting, where she described the pendant in the following manner: :“This, is all that remains of a great creature from a time long before man walked upright, fully. She waits for one to allow her to finally rest. I believe that you are the one.” Despite Matt's wariness of dealing with Sidhe, he accepted the pendant after she swore that no price would be extracted from him, if he chose to act. Back to the present, Matt takes his dirt bike and goes camping by himself. At night, being in contact of all five elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Wood) allows the being in the pendant to open communication with him. She explains that she is so old that she has forgotten even her name, and that she yearns to die and join her sisters. Back home, Matt has a disagreement with his parents regarding his brother Ryan, and retreats to his room, worrying at their reaction when he inevitably manifests as a mutant. There, he reconnects with the spirit in the pendant. She explains how she came to be in this state, and that ordinarily the pendant would work as a trap, whereas her consciousness would take over the host at first touch, subsuming him into her. However, his mutant nature protects him. She again attempts to convince Matt into helping her to achieve death. On 2006-12-31, Matt decides to run away from home, taking his backpack, motorcycle, some money and a varmint rifle. When camping, the spirit explains that Matt has the ability to house a spirit, but that she couldn't move to his Hallow, as that would kill him. Instead, she proposes doing a ritual that would allow him to subsume her, giving her the peace she craves and leaving him with her power and some of her thoughts. She swears not to try to control or subsume him, but warns that she may have to change him to survive the process, and there might be side effects. Matt accepts and performs the ritual, falling unconscious afterward. Matt wakes up next day to again meet Kalrys. He discovers that he had changed into the form of a girl -- a six-armed girl, reminiscent of some Hindu deities. Matt points out that he (now she) had done a service to Kalrys, so she owes Matt, and asks that Kalrys help her to find her brother. Kalrys pays with a set of cryptic instructions, telling her to "travel to the fort-city, and find a knight of red on blue with silver shield riding upon a steel horse," whereupon she would have five paths, one of which would take her to Ryan. Frustrated, Matt tells her to go away, but not before Kalrys makes another set of cryptic comments. The new girl finds out that she now has both sets of sexual organs, and that oddly, her new appearance feels completely natural to her and she has no problems controlling her new arms -- and even the clothes she was wearing had been magically changed to fit her new anatomy. After Matt finally leaves on her motorcycle, Kalrys comes back and erases all clues of his having been there, dissolving afterwards into dead leaves and other vegetable matter. Approaching Dallas/Fort Worth, Matt is stopped by a motorcycle cop named Thomas Knight, since her parents had put an APB regarding Matt's disappearance, including the license on Matt's bike. She doesn't resist, but accidentally triggers her gravitic Warping powers, destroying the cop's motorcycle. The Mutant Commission Office is called, and Matt is taken to the MCO offices for Dallas/Fort Worth. However, despite her fears, she discovers that the Texas MCO is nothing like some of its ill-famed counterparts in other states; Agents Cassandra Tyler and Will Howes are courteous and helpful, shielding her from grumpy FBI agent Colin Davis, and the resident MCO "Shepherd" psychic, Boost, confirms Matt's identity. After a night slept in the MCO offices, the district director, Kuni Sommers, explains the peculiar status of the Bible Belt MCO branches. She tells Matt that the lynching attempt on Ryan falls outside the MCO mandate, but that they would turn over evidence to the appropriate authorities to pursue the case -- and that she can't tell her details due to legal issues, but that Ryan is alive and not in jail. Due to the risk posed by her family, Matt is made a ward of the State, and put into the care of Boost, whose real name is Andrea. Drea takes Matt to Powers Testing and registers her as "Anomaly", with power ratings of Exemplar 2, Warper 4g, PK 4, Esper 1. She finds that she can lift up to four tons, has very fine control over her gravity manipulation, and can fly. Matt also chooses "Monica" as her new name. Drea then takes Monica to "Fabricator's Lab", a business ran by her brother Daryl, a gadgeteer who makes a living from building everyday things for mutants with special needs -- including clothing. Daryl also happens to be an avatar, with a Draconic spirit nicknamed Steamer who remembers the times of the Five Fold Court. Steamer identifies Monica's spirit as Terra-Kashaly, Thirdborn of the Earth Court. Drea and Daryl tell Monica about Whateley Academy, and let her stay in one of Daryl's guest apartments for a while. After seeing the news of Doctor Reaper's attack in Australia (and again failing to recognize her brother/sister and best friend), Monica is surprised to receive the visit of Seattle MCO agent Miles Wylann, who helps her with the Whateley admission paperwork. She then departs with Agent Wylann to New Hampshire. On 2007-01-07, they stop near Zanesville, OH when a fight between a mutant and the Knights of Purity breaks out. Monica is instrumental in saving a number of people despite the KoP trigger-happy attitude towards mutants. Fortunately, Agent Wylann is able to protect her from the local mutant-hostile MCO. Despite everything, Monica arrives safely to Whateley on 2007-01-09, where she is received by Beltane and put in Poe Cottage, housed in a basement room. In the Crystal Hall, she recognizes the voice of her old friend "Crazy Joe" Turner, coming from a group of mutants that she recognized from the TV broadcasts. Her surprise attracts the attention of Outcast Corner, and Razorback remarks that her smell is identical to Diamondback's, triggering Jericho's recognition. A few weeks later, Phase asks Fey about the Outcasts' sudden low-profile attitude, and Nikki explains that they are helping Anomaly assimilate into Whateley -- and venting their energy by hunting the remnants of The Bastard's spawn near the school Characters * Anomaly (Matthew "Matt" Carter, now Monica Carter). * Diamondback (As both Ryan and Sandra Carter). * Psyscream (Mentioned as Jamal Carter.) * Nadir (Mentioned as Amanda Carter) * Jericho ("Crazy Joe Turner") * Pastor Ferris (Lynch Mob Leader) * Eldritch ("young woman with shiny black hair and the cobalt-blue, metallic tattoos") * Outback Fury ** Tazman (a speedster with claws and a harelip that only his mother could love) ** Dreamtime (a skinny blonde girl who would have been an ethereal beauty if her snotty attitude didn’t shine forth and ruin it.) ** Ayer (team Science hero... and he spent more time dickering with his widgets than paying attention to the camera and interview) ** Crocodile Commander (buxom young brunette with far too much enthusiasm and not nearly enough common sense) * Bannon * Kalrys * Officer Thomas Knight * Dallas/Forth Worth MCO: **Agent Cassandra Tyler **Agent Will Howes **Boost (Telepath) (Andrea) * FBI Agent Colin Davis * Puppet? (one girl... that was being eaten alive from the inside by the toxins her own blood was generating) * Daryl ** Steamer dragon spirit, former Herald to the Five-Fold Courts * Terra-Kashaly * Doctor Reaper (Mentioned.) * Unverziehen (Mentioned.) * Dr. Diabolik (Mentioned.) * MCO Agent Miles Wylann * Beltane * Chaka (a rambunxious looking black girl who looked like she was a walking sugar high.) * Phase (As Ayla) * Hazmat * Aquerna (As Anna) * Fey * Bunker (Mentioned.) * Mule (Mentioned.) Category:Stories Category:Joe Gunnarson Category:Gen1